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Mohegan Sun Arena GM Brian Sipe named Young Professional of the Year

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Day 3 of Scholl retrial: Both sides rest, closing arguments Friday

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Now that Luzerne County&#8217;s old juvenile detention center has been stripped of environmental hazards, officials are again discussing what to do with the three-story brick building overlooking the county&#8217;s Water Street prison.</p><p>It&#8217;s an issue that has been debated on and off since the county stopped sending youths there in 2002. The options contemplated to date: sell it, use it for another county purpose, keep it mothballed indefinitely or tear it down.</p><p>However, the last option is off the table unless funding is identified because county Manager C. David Pedri&#8217;s new capital plan, which took effect Sept. 1, eliminated a $400,000 allocation to demolish the structure.</p><p>The county also has no funds earmarked to renovate the building, which would require new sprinklers, elevators, plumbing and an HVAC system, Pedri said Thursday.</p><p>Councilman Eugene Kelleher said during a council real estate committee meeting Thursday he still has concerns about a sale due to the building&#8217;s proximity to the prison.</p><p>A council majority had rejected local businessman Jim Casey&#8217;s 2016 offer to buy the building for $20,000 to create a long-term residential program for recovering female addicts, but Casey has said he may still be interested in that project.</p><p>Some council members cited the lack of an appraisal as a reason not to sell. An appraisal released in May concluded the property would be worth $133,000 after the cleanup of bird excrement and asbestos that became airborne when thieves tore out copper piping. That $78,000 abatement work recently wrapped up, and the structure has passed air testing, Pedri said this week.</p><p>At Kelleher&#8217;s urging, the committee decided to invite county Correctional Services Division Head Mark Rockovich and Deputy Warden Sam Hyder to speak about a possible sale at its October meeting. Kelleher said he&#8217;s walked the property and worries women at a potential recovery center could throw items to inmates.</p><p>Rocks and balls &#8212; some packed with narcotics or tobacco &#8212; have been thrown from the detention property to the prison yard below at times, prison officials have said.</p><p>The prison no longer has canines to search the yard for drugs before inmates are permitted access, Kelleher noted.</p><p>Councilman Rick Williams said he welcomes feedback from prison representatives but would not rule out a sale because the county could include safety and security provisions that must be met by prospective buyers.</p><p>For example, Casey had said his proposed program for women included round-the-clock, on-site supervision and cameras and other security measures.</p><p>Jane Walsh Waitkus, who chairs the committee, shares Kelleher&#8217;s concerns but also wants to explore a sale to generate revenue and make the property taxable.</p><p>Kelleher conceded the structure also poses a security concern by remaining vacant and said other entities may be interested in the structure. Casey&#8217;s purchase offer was the only one submitted in 2016.</p><p>Citizen Brian Shiner suggested the county consider the site for a Wilkes-Barre magisterial office instead of leasing a building or for a prison detoxification unit to segregate incoming inmates withdrawing from opioids and other drugs. The center was built as a women&#8217;s prison in 1937.</p><p><strong>River Common</strong></p><p>The county-owned River Common along the Susquehanna River also came up Thursday because the administration has asked council to earmark $10,000 in natural-gas recreation funding for park maintenance annually for five years.</p><p>As part of that proposal, King&#8217;s College and Wilkes University have each agreed to kick in $20,000 annually for event programming at the park during the same time period.</p><p>County officials have received complaints that maintenance of the River Common has decreased due to the elimination of an outside landscaping contract to save money. The county building and grounds crew tries to keep up with mowing with a staff reduced from past layoffs, officials said.</p><p>Williams said he supports King&#8217;s and Wilkes and appreciates their willingness to provide voluntary payments as tax-exempt entities. But he questioned if some of their programming investment could be redirected to maintenance or whether the institutions would be willing to help with mowing and snow removal since their campuses are across the street.</p><p>Walsh Waitkus also raised a similar suggestion at this week&#8217;s council meeting.</p><p>Pedri told council he&#8217;s still finalizing the proposal with the institutions. The $10,000 would cover an outside landscaping contractor to manicure the park and supplement continuing maintenance by county building and grounds, he said.</p><p>The new programming could include concerts, speakers and festivals.</p><p>&#8220;These are new events that will draw people to downtown Wilkes-Barre,&#8221; Pedri told council.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Kelleher </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/web1_EugeneKelleher1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Kelleher </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jennifer Learn-Andes</p><p>jandes@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Council debates future use of Luzerne County juvenile detention center